Ch.2 - Refuge
Two dull eyes stared out from behind the evergreen branches. They watched a young woman emerge from the opposite side of the meadow and peer around her with a deep sigh of contentment. The boy to whom the eyes belonged observed her make her way towards him, entirely unaware of his presence. She was different, changed in his eyes. Her demeanor was quite curious, completely at ease. This was a side of her he had never before seen, scarce imagined. She was a beautiful mystery, as pure as the moon and as puzzling as an unreadable book or uncharted sky.
His eyes, at first undemonstrative, narrowed and hardened. Never had he hated her more. Why was she here? Out of everything she had ever done, this was the worst. She had stolen his refuge, his sanctuary. His only home. For it was only here that he could brush off the anger and the hatred. Here he never dealt with expectations: his family's or even hers. Here, he wasn't his father's son, but a young nameless boy. A young man who existed, more often than not, despondently. But even that was better than the pain and the helplessness.
And yet, here she was: his sworn enemy. He didn't want to hate her, not here. This was the only place in the world where he didn't have to hate. Here, he didn't have to hurt or even pretend. He merely existed. Sometimes a pathetic excuse of an existence, but it was special and sacred to him nonetheless. And he didn't want her to take that from him.
Oddly, her presence did not feel all that intrusive. While it weighed on his mind and caused him inner turmoil, it felt somewhat natural, almost normal for her to be here. He wanted to yell at her, assault her, or throw her out, but his heart wouldn't have been in it. She seemed so at home in his little glade. The image of her petite form reclining in his glade was so fitted that it could have been an image in the painting of a master.
Here, once again, she had beaten him. In classes she bested him. During first year she had garnered the friendship of the Boy-Who-Lived after he failed. Miraculously, she had acquired great popularity and was trusted among all three houses - Slytherin, naturally, excluded. While, he didn't desire such a reputation, it certainly had its uses. The first step to using people was to gain their trust. She was better at practical magic than he and had overcome many trials, even beating the Dark Lord's followers. Furthermore she caused the incarceration of his father. He didn't think there existed a single being anywhere whose presence would have been less welcome to him. And finally, she stole his last refuge and his final source of sanity. But in spite of everything, in a way, he didn't really want her to leave. No matter how unwelcome, she was company in his lonely world.